After Losing Karupin
by Mizuki-sempai
Summary: Sequel: Karupin and the Saddened Ryoma After losing Karupin, what will Ryoma do? How will the people closest to him react to how this loss has affected him so dramatically? Read&Review! Chap. 12 up! WARNING: Only Chap.11 rated M.
1. Chapter 1

After losing Karupin… well… it was hard for Ryoma.

He did not go to school for a week.

The tennis courts practically seemed deserted without his presence.

Everyone was worried.

And no one could get in touch with the Prince of Tennis himself. Tons of worried messages we left on his answering machine. From Oishi's message worring about his kohai to Sakuno asking why he was gone.

For the 17 year-old, things were so different.

His stomach seemed so bare that week because it was not occupied by his beloved Himalayan cat anymore. This is the first time in 9 years he has not had Karupin sleep on his pillow at night.

Another stray tear crawled down his cheek. The pain of his loss spread throughout his body as he felt the cold wetness on his face.

Shoving a handful of chips in his mouth, and gulping down the rest of the ponta, he went back to watching the latest tennis tournament on his tv. Trying to forget about the pain. Trying….

A few days later, he finally decided to head back to Seigaku, even though he still wasn't alright.

He said nothing to anyone the whole day. Everyone knew that Ryoma wasn't that social… but come on! He wasn't even saying his old 'Made Made Dane'!

And when the teacher called on him to answer a question… his gave a stare that made the teacher just go onto the next student.

And even tennis practice made the whole tennis club wonder about their captain.

"What is wrong with Echizen-buchou?" Ask one of the new freshman on the team.

Their coach, Inui-senpai, just shrugged. "There is a 90% chance that something happened to someone or something around him."

"I know what happened." A voice said behind Inui.

Inui didn't even turn around, already knowing who it was. "What happened then Fuji?"

The brunettes usual smile was gone, and an unusual frown replaced it. "Karupin." He said quietly. "Echizen had to put Karupin to sleep…"

Behind Inui's glasses, it clicked. Something this dramatic happening in Echizen's life would be the only way to make him act like this.

And only 2 things could make him this depressed.

Karupin and…

"How did you learn of this news Fuji?" Inui asked.

One word came from the brunette's lips.

"Tezuka."

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Comments and constuctive critizism [nice please...] appreciated!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis…

Chap.2

Ryoma continued to go to school after that first day. His body was there…but his mind was elsewhere. He spoke a little more than he did in the beginning to the people around him. Though it was only a simple "yes" or "no", but that was a start.

Ryoma was completely aware of the people trying to cheer him up, but he thought it was useless without Karupin. He didn't know what to say to anyone, his mind was a mess and he wanted his beloved cat back.

The tennis team regulars were all extremely worried about their Buchou. They wanted to do whatever they could to help him get over his loss of Karupin. Including challenging him to many matches to try and occupy his mind. Nothing they did seemed to work though. As they all lost their matches miserably and Ryoma didn't seem to notice he was playing in the first place, so they gave up on that part of the plan. The next part would be set into motion by Momo.

"Echizen!!" Momo yelled as Ryoma began to walk through the school gate. It was getting late and practice had just ended.

"Hmm?" Ryoma mumbled with a somewhat tired expression on his face.

"Are you free tonight? I was hoping you could go somewhere with me." Momo said with a poorly hid mischievous smile on his face.

"…" Ryoma remained silent and gave his senpai a blank stare.

Momo seemed to take that as a Go Ahead as he grabbed Ryoma's arm and began to drag him down the street. Ryoma was in no mood to argue so he just silently followed his senpai.

They hadn't walked to far when Momo came to a stop. Ryoma looked up and he looked slightly confused as he read the shop sign that said "Kawamura Sushi".

"What are we doing here senpai?" Ryoma asked. Momo went slightly wide eyed and then smiled. It had been quite a while since he had heard a full sentence come from his kohai's mouth. With that he knew he had made the right choice bringing Ryoma here.

Momo just continued to smile and ignored Ryoma's question as he pulled him into the sushi shop. Ryoma's eyes went wide as he saw the former Seigaku regulars seated at a table near the front of the shop.

"Senpai-tachi what are yo-" Ryoma was suddenly cut off by shouts from two of the ex-regulars, those two being Kikumaru and Oishi.

"Ochibi!!" Kikumaru glomped Ryoma adding to Oishi's many worries, and to all the people present's surprise Ryoma didn't even attempt to push Kikumaru off.

They all stared at Ryoma with wide eyes. Momo was right, Ryoma had been extremely effected by Karupins' death. If he wasn't pushing Kikumaru away the world must be ending.

"Echizen?" Came Oishi's worried voice.

"Hmm?" Ryoma drawled.

"A-are you alright?" Oishi stuttered not being used to Ryoma's passive behavior. He didn't know whether or not to pull Kikumaru off of the young boy.

"Hn." Ryoma gave a short reply.

Kikumaru slowly released Ryoma. He was more confused than anyone else. Ryoma not pushing him away messed up his entire routine. He would hug Ryoma, Ryoma would push him away, and he would complain, but now he didn't know what to do.

Ryoma threw a glance over the room. Once he spotted who he was looking for he began to trudge forward. Ryoma sat down next to Tezuka and then wrapped his arms around him. At this practically everyone was sent into panic mode. This had to be some kind of alien that had taken over Ryoma's body, because a public desplay of affection was about a un-Ryoma-ish as a person could get.

They were in for another shock as Tezuka gave a small hug back and then patted Ryoma on the head. That seemed to temporarily do the trick as Ryoma let Tezuka go and began to eat the sushi that Kawamura had set on the table before him.

All around their teammates were giving them confused looks. They knew the two had been dating since after nationals last year, but they had never seen tem show any sort of affection, and they all felt relieved that Kawamura had closed the shop early for their little reunion to take place.

If this kind of thing was happening, then Ryoma was definitely in a low state of mind. They had heard a little about it from Momo, Inui, and Fuji. Inui being Seigaku's coach and Fuji occasionally visiting the tennis team. Though seeing their Kohai's state with their own eyes was a truly upsetting sight. At that they all made a silent agreement to do whatever they could to cheer up their dear Kohai.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM PRINCE OF TENNIS!**

**Which stinks because I would love to own Yukimura Seiichi…. ^-^'**

_**A/N: Thank you for those who reviewed! Reviews mean the world to me!**_

After Losing Karupin – Chapter 3

After being reunited with Tezuka (who he rarely gets to see now a days), Ryoma finally started to 'act' like himself, though a lot of the people close to him could see right through his façade.

Karupin's death had left a deep, not even close to being healed wound that had been cut into the boy's heart. If you look into the deep golden brown eyes of his, you could see how much the loss of his best friend has affected him.

"20 laps!" Ryoma barked out the order. Most of the tennis team was smiling, and for once excited to have laps assigned by their buchou and not their fukubuchou. They believe that they finally have gotten their old buchou back.

Man. They must be on oblivious tennis team….

Momoshiro sighed. "Mamushi…" He started, for once not getting into a fight with Kaidou (which the tennis team believed that this was very, VERY strange to not see them fight every chance they get). "How long do you think it will be before Echizen gets over you-know-who?" He said this in almost a whisper, trying not to get Ryoma's attention.

"Fshuu…" Kaidou shrugged. "Who knows. Echizen-buchou seems to take things really seriously…." Kaidou said, and then added, "Remember when he help that grudge again Inui-sempai for knocking out his team with his new Super Amazing Inui Special 3000?" The memory of this incident made Momo and Kaidou shiver.

"I see your point Mamushi…" Momo said thoughtfully, with a hint of sadness when he realized that it seemed like Ryoma would never get over Karupin's passing.

"There is a 110.2% chance that you are talking about Echizen."

Momo and Kaidou jumped. "Hi Inui-sempai…" Momo said breathlessly to their coach who appeared randomly behind him.

"I doubt that Echizen will get over losing Karupin for a long while…" Inui said while scribbling in his notebook.

Suddenly, a dark, clouded aura surrounded the tennis courts, circling around Ryoma, causing everyone to slowly back away.

"Thanks Inui-sempai for letting out Echizen's wrath…" Momo said before running away from Ryoma and the tennis courts.

Ryoma sighed heavily when he got home.

"Tadaima…" He said in a monotone voice, and kicked off his shoes before walking into his house.

"Ryoma!" Rinko shouted enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around her son and giving him a hug.

"Hi mom." Ryoma said not NEARLY as enthusiastically as his mom. It had no enthusiasm at all. Once she let go, Ryoma quickly went over and sat on the couch, grabbed the remote, and started to flip through the channels. While he was doing this, Ryoma subconsciously moved his hand to his stomach where his fur ball Karupin used to lay, but he then remembered that Karupin wasn't there.

And a single tear rolled down Ryoma's cheek.

Tezuka crossed his arms, and he looked at Fuji with his usual stoic face, but with sad eyes. And Fuji, being the tensai he is, could tell that the way Ryoma was acting because of his mourning of Karupin was starting to get to Tezuka.

"What are you going to do Tezuka?" Fuji asked. His usual smile was replaced by a stern looked, and his cerulean eyes showing.

Tezuka shrugged. He really had no idea how to help Ryoma in this case. He had never had anyone close to him pass away. He had no pets (his grandfather wouldn't allow it), and only his great-grandfather, who he never really knew, had passed away since he has been alive. And that was when he was eight. So Tezuka really didn't know what his Ryoma was going through.

He sighed, still completely puzzled.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Prince of Tennis

She is so weird…

**Afallenheart:** Thank you for staying with this story even over the looonnnggg wait…

**RelativaMariposa:** Thank you very much^^ I'm glad you liked it.

**animephantom:** Yeah we thought about that…but that would be too predictable…right?

**edenforest1:** Yeah…we love Karupin too…but it made for a good story…right?

Thank you all for your reviews!! We appreciate them very much!! I hope you keep reading and enjoy the story…

-Sarah

Chap.4

It had been almost three weeks since Karupin was put to sleep, but Ryoma's behavior had only mildly improved. It was about to time to put part three of the "Cheer up Ryoma" plan into action…but what was part three?

Momo, Kaidoh, and the ex-regulars gathered at Kawamura Sushi more often now, trying to come up with a way to cheer Ryoma up (including Tezuka). Ideas ranged from getting him a new cat to taking him on vacation away from the memories of Karupin. They finally came up with a plan…one Kikumaru would have to take care of.

After tennis practice Ryoma went straight home. He was tired and just wanted to relax. His body was sore as the tennis regulars had been challenging him non-stop the last few weeks, but more than anything his heart ached with loneliness.

"Tadaima…" Ryoma greeted as he entered his home.

"Okeari, Ryoma." Rinko said as she heard her son.

"Oi, Chibisuke!! Have a match with me!" Ryoga shouted from the next room to his little brother.

"Yadda…" Ryoma mumbled and walked up the stairs and to his bedroom. Now his family was truly worried and shocked. Ryoma never turned down a match, especially with his brother or father.

When Ryoma reached his room his room he gave a weary sigh and glanced around the room. He hadn't had the heart to throw away Karupin's toys, so they still layed around his room. These things only made Ryoma more lonely and hurt.

He sighed and set his things next to his door. He layed on his bed and let out yet another sigh. For a while he just layed there and stared at the ceiling. Ryoma knew he needed to come out of his slump, but he didn't know how.

He felt a vast emptiness inside of him and he didn't know how to fill it. Karupin was only one besides Tezuka that Ryoma could show his emotions to…his true self. Now Karupin was gone and Ryoma hardly got to see Tezuka anymore. So loneliness was beginning to flood his heart. He felt like he was in the middle of a large ocean with no way out and no one to save him. So it would indeed be an understatement to say that he was sad.

Ryoma finally got off his bed and walked over to his door. He rested his hand on the door knob for a while before turning it and walking out and back down the stairs.

"Ryoma…how are you feeling?" Rinko asked as she saw Ryoma standing at the base of the staircase.

"I'm fine…" Ryoma mumbled as he walked outside and sat on the back porch. He began to watch the Koi fish swim in their pond. Ryoma heard a knock and his mother greet someone at the door.

"Ryoma…your senpai is here to see you…" Rinko called out to Ryoma.

Ryoma turned around half hoping to see Tezuka, but he knew he would be disappointed. He was right, for it was Kikumaru that had come to visit. The thing that shocked Ryoma was what was in Kikumaru's arms. There was a small puppy asleep and content lying there.

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru grinned as he noticed the look on Ryoma's face as he looked at the puppy and he mistook it for a look of happiness, "Do you want to hold him?!"

Kikumaru didn't wait for an answer as he shoved the puppy into Ryoma's arms. With the transfer the puppy woke up and began to wag its tail and licked Ryoma's face. Ryoma was shocked and without thinking he jumped up. He had never been very fond of dogs. The puppy gave a yelp as it hit the ground, Kikumaru hadn't been able to catch it in time as they were to close to the ground.

The dog ran into the house after picking itself back up. Ryoma and Kikumaru just stood there for a moment, slightly confused at what had just happened. Then they heard a yell from inside that made them move.

"AHHHHH!! Who brought this mut into the house?! I'm going to kill it!! My poor poor precious magazines!!" Nanjiroh yelled from the guest room, where he kept his magazines pilled up.

"NO!! Don't hurt him!!" Kikumaru yelled after he heard Nanjiroh.

Once they reached the guest room Ryoma and Kikumaru stopped dead in their tracks. The sight that greeted them was just to much. Nanjiroh was chasing the dog in circles around the small room.

Ryoma gave a slight chuckle which stopped Nanjiroh dead in his tracks, and Kikumaru's grin to widen. They had made a little bit of progress.

"OCHIBI!!" Kikumaru glomped his kohai. Then he noticed the look Nanjiroh gave the poor puppy. He gave an eep, grabbed the dog, and ran out of the house.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis!**

_Which stinks. I want my Yukimura! *snuggles my Seiichi plushie*_

Anyway! I would like to thank those who reviewed the last chapter!

**Khelc-sul Renai: **Yeah. We had a few.. erm.. mishaps getting chapter three up (Sarah yelling at me about how I can't spell.) ^-^' I'm glad you liked the dog idea. :)

**RelativaMariposa: **I'm glad you enjoyed it and thought it was cute! Thanks for the review!

**Animehphantom: **We are planning to write soon, but I don't know when the story will be finished. ^-^' Maybe soon? Who knows. :P

Anyway! Thanks again for the reviews!

-Lexie

***AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin***

Soon after Kikumaru brought the Echizens a dog, they soon gave it back. Of course it was a great to watch Nanjiroh chase the dog around the house everywhere, and see him ruin his 'precious' magazines.

But the dog wasn't the same as Karupin, and Ryoma still felt that loneliness in his heart, even though his sempais seemed to cheer him up a little bit with their crazy antics.

But even so, nothing has been the same without his furball laying beside Ryoma's head on his pillow every night….

***AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin***

"Ryoma! Your sempai is here!" Rinko shouted to Ryoma.

Ryoma walked down the steps with a puzzled look on his face. /Kunimitsu was just here 15 minutes ago…/Ryoma thought to himself. /I don't think he forg-/

His own thoughts were cut off when he saw his sempai, and coach standing at the door.

"Inui… Sempai?" He asked puzzled. What was he doing here?

"Hello Echizen. May I come in?" Inui asked, and his glasses glinted. Oh. This must not be good…

Ryoma nodded, and Inui quickly made himself at home, pulling out a pitcher from… well… I don't know where he did. But Ryoma paled when he saw the pitcher and the interesting liquid that was changing from green to pink to orange in a matter of milliseconds.

"I thought I would bring you 'Inui's Deluxe Special Non-Depression Cure Juice Version 3.67824'." Inui said, presenting his juice in a dramatic fashion.

The name caused Ryoma to pale even more.

"Would you like to try some?" Inui asked him, urging him to take a drink of his... liquid.

"Yadda."

Inui frowned. He went through the pain of making this juice especially for Echizen and he won't drink it? /How dare he…/ Inui thought.

"Bishonen! Who came in? Was it that Tezuka boy again?" Nanjiroh shouted, and he walked into the room, digging his pinky into his ear, then blowing of the earwax.

"… Ear wax… I must include that in my next creation…" Inui mumbled to himself, swiftly writing in that notebook he always has with him.

Ryoma sighed. "This is Inui-sempai, Oyaji…" He said in a disgusted tone. Boy, Ryoma did not want to deal with his father.

Totally disregarding his son, Nanjiroh's attention was focused on something else. And that something was in a pitcher on the table.

"Hey. What is bishonen?" Nanjiroh asked, getting a closer look at the liquid.

Instead of Ryoma answering, Inui jumped right in. "This is Inui's Deluxe Special Non-Dep—" Inui got interrupted, and not was able to finish his amazing introduction of his creation, by Nanjiroh…

Gulping down Inui's creation.

"Nanjiroh!!!" Rinko shouted, seeing her husband down that god awful smelling 'juice'. And saw his face go pale, blue and then purple within 2 seconds.

And Rinko was down by his side. "NOOOO!"

Inui sighed. It couldn't have been THAT bad. He had Fuji test it before he came over to the Echizen household.

Ryoma sighed, and snickered at the sight of his fallen father. And for the first time, he mumbled something he never thought he would hear himself say…

"Thanks Oyaji…" He mumbled, and then smirked.

"I didn't have to drink that juice. Mada mada dane."

Inui smiled to himself. That was the first time he had hear Ryoma give his usual 'Mada mada dane' line since the passing of the cat, Karupin.

He did what he was supposed to do.

"Well I better be off. I have a new creation idea to get to work on." Inui said, and headed out the door.

Now when he left, Ryoma shuddered. He heard Inui mumble something about 'earwax' just as he left.

/Oh Kami…/ Ryoma thought. /My poor tennis team…/

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis…

I swear Lex has some major issues…I worry about her sometimes…she has some seriously unhealthy obsessions…

Thanks for the Reviews everyone!! I'm glad you all like it so far! There will probably be about five more chapters after this one! We're planning on starting another one soon! I want to run a poll for the pairing, but I need to talk to Lex about it first…it will be one with RyomaX___?­­­­­­___. So if I start a poll on our profile please be sure to vote and I hope you will also read the story, but even if you don't, please vote anyway!! Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for sticking with us!!

-Sarah

Chap.6

To the non-regulars and the new regulars unlike Momo and Kaidoh, Ryoma seemed to completely recovered from the death of his cat. He played tennis as he used to(at least he seemed to), assigned laps, and acted like his usual bratty self. So to say the least his tea, was relieved.

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

"He seems to be improving." Inui said as he added a few finishing touches to today's data, "Though we are only about 30% of the way to getting him to have a full recovery."

All the ex-regulars has decided to meet with Kaidoh and Momo at Kawamura Sushi again. They needed to come up with yet another plan, as Kikumaru and Inui's plans hadn't completed Ryoma's recovery.

"Who was going next agai-" Momo was cut off as two people walked into the shop.

"Ah…gomen…we're closed right no-" Kawamura to stopped speaking as he saw who had entered the shop. It was Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou from Rikkaidai, the two were holding hands as they walked into the small building.

"Hello…" Yukimura said with a gentle smile, as he and Sanada came to sit with the group of tennis players.

"Hey…" Momo said just as confused as the rest of the (ex)regulars.

"What have you all been talking about?" Yukimura asked as he noticed the unhappy faces of the people around him, though he kept his smile intact. Asking a question rather than answering the rather obvious one on everyone else's mind.

Everyone's faces turned even more grim at that question. They had been trying to come up with another plan, but to no avail. A few of them gave sighs while others turned their pained gazes away. Yukimura's expression turned to one of confusion, while Sanada's remained blank, though if you studied his face long enough you could tell he was confused and curious.

"We've been trying to cheer Echizen up…his cat had to be put to sleep." Inui stated keeping his gaze on a nearby wall.

"I see…" Yukimura's face turned serious, then it lit up as an idea came to him, "Why don't we help them Gen-chan?"

Everyone looked at Sanada trying to hold back their laughter, a few failing (Kikumaru, Kaidoh, Momo, Oishi, and Fuji chuckled).Sanada's face turned a bright shade of red. He attempted to regain his composure and ignore the laughter from those around him.

"Aa…Seiichi…" Sanada mumbled as he looked down at the table, which caused the others to laugh even more, though some tried to politely cover it up, half of them being unsuccessful.

"Okay…so I believe Oishi was going to try next, then if he fails you two may go…" Tezuka finally spoke up and everyone else quieted down.

"Is that alright with you?" Oishi asked.

"Aa…It would be our pleasure." Yukimura stated with his smile returning to his face.

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

/So it's Oishi-senpai's turn now?/ Ryoma thought as yet another one of his senpai had arrived to try and cheer him up. He sighed as he stared blankly at Oishi, who seemed as worried as ever.

Oishi decided to take Ryoma mountain climbing, along with any of his family members that wanted to go. Nanako and Rinko had been busy, so it was Ryoga and Nanjiroh that came along.

It began to get dark as they climbed the mountain, and Nanjiroh often lost his footing and fell flat on his face. Then Ryoga would have to jump over him so he wouldn't trip over his father.

Once they reached the top, the sun had gone down and the moon was close behind also setting as the morning came. They stared as the stars began to fade in the presence of the sun and the sky turned an orange-red color as the sun rose higher into the sky. They had been sitting on the ground for some time when they heard a growling sound close to them.

"Ah…gomen, gomen…I must have been hungrier than I thought." Nanjiroh laughed as he scratched the back of his head with one hand and patted his stomach with the other. The other three held back a chuckle as Nanjiroh looked like he was almost embarrassed.

***Growl~~***

"Seems like I wasn't the only one hungry." Nanjiroh grinned at Ryoma, Ryoga, and Oishi, who gave him confused looks back, "Nani? What are those looks for? I heard a growl…"

"It wasn't me…" They all said together, then glanced at each other in confusion. At that Nanjiroh's eyes went wide.

"IT'S A BEAR!!! A BEAR!!! DON'T HURT ME!! MY PRECIOUS MAGAZINES NEED ME!!" Nanjiroh shouted as he began to run, "I'M TO YOUNG TO DIE!! RINKO SAVE ME!!"

They heard rocks crumbling and screaming as Nanjiroh slid all the way down the mountain.

"Will he be alright?!" Oishi panicked and went into motherhen mode as he began to worry about Nanjiroh.

"He'll be fine…just leave him… his hunger and need for his magazines will lead him back to the house." Ryoma said, then muttered, "Baka Oyaji…"

This was yet another thing Ryoma hadn't said in a while. Ryoga and Oishi smiled as Ryoma began to make his way back down the mountain. Little did they know that Nanjiroh had been right about someone being hungry…

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

Not too far away, behind some bushes, a few worried people had tagged along. These people being Momo, Kaidoh, Fuji, and Kikumaru. As Momo and Kikumaru's stomachs growled they tried to hurry and quiet them down. It was to late for Nanjiroh had heard the growling. The four watching the sunrise had a small conversation before Nanjiroh panicked and ran away while shouting nonsense about a bear and his "precious" magazines.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis!**

But I do still want to own my Seiichi *tear*. But at least Sarah gave me the Yukimura chapter!

Oh. Also, I have to change the rating to T, just to be safe. There is a little sexual content (like PG-13 or less maybe). But anyway, just giving you all the heads up.

Thank you to all of those who reviewed! Reviews make my day. :)

**FallenAngel Sayu:** If you read _Karupin and the Saddened Ryoma_ you will find out. But I kinda made it up. ^-^'

**Khelc-sul Renai:** Ah. Yeah. We like updating fast. (Plus I don't wanna pay attention in school. :P)

**Sabaku no Sable: **Aha. Yeah. We all love Nanjiroh and his magazines!

**Animephantom:** Thanks for reading!

I appreciate all of the reviews guys! :)

To the story!

***AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin***

Of course, Oishi's hike did help Ryoma a bit, but his cloud of loneliness still loomed over his head. And this still caused all of his sempais to worry. And of course you know all of them would worry, even if some didn't show it.

So Momo and the ex-regulars (including Yukimura and Sanada) held another meeting at Kawamura Sushi.

"So its Gen-chan and my turn?" Yukimura asked with a smiled on his feminine face.

"Ah." Tezuka said, crossing his arms and keeping his stoic expression. "Yudan sezuni ikkou."

Yukimura swiftly stood up, and dragged Sanada up with him. "Come on Gen-chan!" He said enthusiastically, "I have some planning to do!"

Sanada sighed. "…Seiichi…" He said warily, scared about what Yukimura was planning.

***AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin***

"Ryoma! Your sempai is at the door!" Rinko shouted to her son, who was currently in the living room. He sighed as he got up to go greet his visitors. Who could it be this time?

Ryoma was actually quite shocked when he saw who was standing at his front door.

"Yukimura-san? Sanada-san?" Ryoma's face matched his puzzled tone in his voice.

"Hello Echizen-kun." Yukimura said politely with a smile on his face. "May we come in?"

Ryoma gave him and Sanada a quick nod, signaling they were welcome inside. But he was still confused. Why was the former buchou and fukubuchou of Rikkaidai doing here?

"We happened to stumble in on your former sempais at Kawamura Sushi, and heard what happened, se we decided to help." Yukimura continued to smile, and then noticed an even more confused look on Ryoma's face. "And no. You didn't say that out loud."

Sanada sighed. He still had no idea how his Seiichi could do that.

Yukimura just sent a smile Sanada's way. Nope, Sanada will never know how…

Ryoma looked down to see Yukimura and Sanada's hands locked together. (A/N: I hate you Sanada!!)

/They must be together…/ Ryoma thought,then he was brought out of his thoughts when Yukimura spoke up once again.

"So… can we see your room?" He inquired at Ryoma.

"Ya-" Ryoma started, but was cut off, again.

"Come on Gen-chan!" Yukimura exclaimed happily, and dragged Sanda upstairs with him.

Ryoma suppressed a chuckle, and then smirked. /Suck a girly pet name…/ "Mada mada dane Sanada-san…" He muttered before heading upstairs after Yukimura and Sanada.

***AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin***

When Ryoma got upstairs, he saw Sanada and Yukimura sitting on his bed. At least his room was pretty clean, besides the miscellaneous cat toys spread about his room, bringing back memories of his beloved cat.

But a random question from Yukimura brought Ryoma back from his memories, and caught him off guard.

"So, have you kissed Tezuka?"

"Well… uhh…" Ryoma began to turn a shade of pink and looked away from the blue-haired boy. Our prince of tennis is getting embarrassed!

Yukimura's grin widened even more. He had hit the jackpot in Ryoma's romance life. Then again, this was what he was planning to do. Try to get Ryoma to focus on something, or someone, else that is important in his life.

"So how far have you two gone?" Yukimura asked intriqued in the boy.

Ryoma turned away from the boy, and turned even more read. "Not far..." He said, almost sadly.

"Ah. I see…" Yukimura said, thinking. Then after a few moments, he added, "Have you tried using whips and chains?"

"W-WHAT?!!" Ryoma shouted, backing away from Yukimura.

"Seiichi… I think you are scaring him…" Sanada said softly.

Yukimura sighed. "I think you're right Gen-chan…" But then, he smiled at Ryoma. "Well, the least we could do is show you how to go farther." He said almost seductively, and then turned to Sanada. "Just don't get to crazy Gen-chan." He said almost in a whisper.

"Seiic-" Sanada stopped talking when he felt Yukimura's on his own, and soon he felt his tongue mingle with Yukimura's.

Ryoma's face turned beat red, and just as he was about to cough to get the two love birds' attention, someone opened the door.

"Hey bishonen. Your mom said that you had a visito-" When Nanjiroh looked down to see Yukimura and Sanada on Ryoma's bed, he practically screamed like a little girl.

"NOO! I'M TAINTED! I. NEED. MY. MAGAZINES!!!!!!!!!!!" Nanjiroh shouted, and raced out of Ryoma's room and went into his sanctuary, AKA the gurst bedroom. (That's where his 'stash' is.)

"Erm, Seiichi, I think we should go…" Sanada mumbled quietly.

Yukimura sighed. "I think you are right Gen-chan." Then he turned to Ryoma. "See you later Echizen. I hope you learned something valuable today." He smiled as he left with Sanada, leaving Ryoma shocked and speechless. A few moments later, he regained his composure and headed out the door.

"I'm going to see Kunimitsu." Ryoma shouted behimd him. "Ja ne."

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis…

Heh…Lex is such an oddball…

**Sabaku no Sable:** It kinda gives Ryoma an idea on how to advance his relationship with Tezuka. As you will see in this chapter.

… **Random Reader:** Heh…that's amazing!! I think what you mean is Yaoi…right?

**Khelc-sul Renai:** Thank you!!! I'm always yelling at her when she does things like that… even though she doesn't mean to…

**Animephantom:** Im glad you can picture his face! ^^ hehheh…

**Bunnykim89:** I'm glad you like it!^^ I hope we can successfully do one as well…

**Chibi-otaku27:** Thanks for the review! Glad you liked it! Lex is absolutely obsessed wih him so she better get it right…hehheh^^

Thanks for your Reviews everyone! Reviews are what motivates us the most!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

-Sarah

Chap. 10-

After Ryoma dismissed the tennis team he glanced over the courts, checked the nets, and locked the clubroom. He walked to the school gate and saw Kawamura waiting there for him.

/So they changed from my house to school, huh?/ Ryoma thought with a small smile on his face. He really appreciated what his senpais were doing for him. They had cheered him up quite a bit and they also helped him advance his relationship with Tezuka, but he would never admit that he was grateful to them.

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

_Flashback_

_Ryoma had called Tezuka and asked him to meet him at a nearby park. Though now that they were both there, he didn't know what to do. One thing he did know, though, was that he would definitely take their relationship to the next level. He wanted to do more than just hold Tezuka's hand. Ryoma could feel Tezuka's gaze on him, as his face showed his frustration. He didn't know how to make the first move._

_Tezuka could easily see that Ryoma was frustrated about something, but he couldn't figure out what. This was one of the rare chances they got to be together, and Tezuka didn't want Ryoma to be so distracted. Tezuka was confused as to why Ryoma was acting this way. _

_Tezuka took Ryoma's hand and that seemed to settle Ryoma's mind into a final decision. Ryoma began to walk away dragging Tezuka along by his hand. Finally Ryoma stopped and looked to see if there was anyone around. When he was sure they were alone he turned back to Tezuka with a determind look on his face. _

_Ryoma reached up and wrapped his arms around Tezuka's neck, which forced Tezuka to bend down. Ryoma quickly closed the small distance between their lips. Tezuka was at first to shocked to move, but when he felt Ryoma's tongue seeking entrance to his mouth he reacted almost automatically. Tezuka wrapped his arms around Ryoma's waist as his lips parted slightly, and immediately after his lips parted Ryoma's tongue slipped into Tezuka's mouth. Soon the two were fighting for dominance as Tezuka's tongue pushed Ryoma's back. When they parted, they were both practically gasping for air._

"_So…what did you…call me here…for?" Tezuka asked between pants, still holding his arms around Ryoma._

"_Heh…mada mada dane…Kunimistsu." Ryoma chuckled as he smirked and pushed Tezuka back. If Tezuka couldn't figure it out, Ryoma wasn't going to tell him, "Ja ne."_

Ryoma began to walk back in the direction of his house, with a smirk on his face. He left behind a very confused Tezuka.

End Flashback

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

So, when Ryoma saw Kawamura he walked straight over to him instead of avoiding him like he would have merely a week ago.

"Hi, Kawamura-senpai." Ryoma greeted when he reached the gate.

"Ah…Hey Echizen…" Taka said rubbing the back of his head, "Here…"

Ryoma looked at what Kawamura had placed in his hand and saw a ticket for free sushi at Kawamura Sushi.

"Thanks…" Ryoma looked up as he said this, but Kawamura had already left to take care of some deliveries.

Ryoma made his way to his house, thinking about when he was going to go to Kawamura's and who he should bring. /Maybe I can take Kunimitsu and make it a date./ Ryoma grinned at that thought as he entered his house.

Ryoma went straight to his room when he got inside. He went through his daily routine of setting his things by the door. He set the ticket on his desk and threw a quick glance at the basket he had put Karupin's toys in. As he was about to call Tezuka and ask him to meet him at Kawamura's Nanjiroh walked in.

"Oi, Seishonen! We're going out for dinner tonight!" Nanjiroh said in his naturally loud voice. Ryoma was about to say something when his father noticed the ticket on his desk. Nanjiroh quickly grabbed the ticket and ran from the room.

"Rinko! Seishonen has a ticket for free sushi for the whole family!" Nanjiroh yelled to his wife.

"Baka Oyaji!" Ryoma shouted as he chased his father.

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

In the end they ended up going to Kawamura Sushi as a family. They ordered their sushi and all was peaceful…until…

"AHHHH!!! MY TONGUE!!!" Nanjiroh shouted as a super spicy taste hit his tongue.

"Baka Oyaji…" Ryoma mumbled as he grinned and hid a small packet of super spicy wasabi he had gotten from Fuji a while back.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis…

Hey, it's Sarah again…

**animephantom:** Glad you liked it^^

**Khelc-sul Renai:** Yeah, it was their first kiss ever…^^…I have to yell at her… when we were at lunch I was reading the chapter before she posted it and it said something like "So now its Gen-chan and I's turns?", I wasn't the only one who flipped out on her… She does it all the time

**FallenAngel Sayu:** Yeah…

**Sabaku no Sable:** Heh…maybe you're right…

**TezuKunimitsu:** Thanks sooo much!! I hate it when I do things like that… I thought it needed a comma and I even thought about putting one…It must have slipped my mind…thanks again.

**chibi-otaku27:** HehHeh…I see…that sounds like a very funny situation…

…**random reader:** Heh…maybe we will…thanks^^…

It seems I will be writing two chapters in a row. Lex is out of town for a family thing today and was busy with homework yesterday. So, sorry about not updating yester day. This chapter is a bit shorter than usual…sorry. I tried to write it quickly that way I could post it tonight. Thanks for the reviews and please don't forget to vote in the poll on our profile. There are two more chapters to go after this one. I hope you enjoyed and will continue to enjoy this story so far.

-Sarah

Chap.9-

**{5:00pm After School and Practice}**

It was Fuji's turn now, and he had the perfect idea. He looked at the pictures and cactus in each of his hands. He noticed the weird looks people were giving him and chuckled slightly. It didn't take Fuji long to reach Ryoma's house. Fuji reached up to knock, but he stopped when the door slid open in front of him. Ryoma's cousin Nanako had been the one to open the door.

"Oh…you must be here to see Ryoma-kun." Nanako smiled as she looked at Fuji.

"Aa." Fuji replied simply with his usual smile in place.

"I believe he is in his room. Please just go on ahead up there." Nanako said as she stepped aside to let Fuji inside the house. She then walked out and left to do some shopping, closing the door behind her.

Fuji went up to Ryoma's room and knocked on the door. When he got no answer, he pushed the door open and saw Ryoma sleeping soundly on his bed. Fuji walked in and looked around Ryoma's room. He stopped when his gaze landed on a small basket full of cat toys.

/Shouldn't he have gotten rid of these by now?/ Fuji thought as he walked over to the basket. He picked up the basket and walked over to Ryoma's desk, where he set the pictures he had brought. Then he walked out of the room and began to look for a place to set the cactus, taking the basket with him.

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

**{7:00pm Echizen Household}**

"ITAI" A shout rang up the stairs, waking Ryoma from his peaceful dream.

Ryoma sat up in his bed, glancing around the room still half asleep. Something seemed to be missing, and Ryoma's mind was to tired to register what it was.

"WHO PUT THIS CACTUS HERE?!" Ryoma now recognized the voice of his father having been the one that shouted only moments ago. Ryoma also realized what was missing…Karupin's toys! Ryoma quickly shot out of his bed and looked around making sure they weren't just hidden from view. While he was looking around he noticed something piled on his desk. They were pictures…of Tezuka?!

Ryoma had to force back an oncoming nosebleed when he saw pictures Tezuka changing, and his shirt lifting a little while playing a tennis match, as he slowly flipped through the pictures. Ryoma put the pictures in one of his desk drawers and left the room to find something to stop his nosebleed, which he had failed to hold back as the pictures got more "appealing" to his eyes. After this incident he completely forgot about his fathers shouts and Karupin's missing toys.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Prince of Tennis.

:( I want to own Yukimura though…

Anyway! I want to thank all of those who reviewed! We have 36 reviews! THANK YOU!!! Sarah and I heart reviews.

**fanfic addict anonymous XP****: **There probably won't be that much yaoi from here on out. Maybe a little, but not too much. And I'm glad you like the nanjiroh scenes. They are probably my favorite. :)

**...random reader:** We love our cacti!

**FallenAngel Sayu: **Haha. He is… :P Thanks for reviewing!

**Khelc-sul Renai: **I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! And yeah, first kiss! First kisses are so sweet… And I didn't write the chapter so… hmm. –takes deep breath- WHERE DID FUJI PUT THE CACTUS SARAH? Maybe she will answer in the next chapter. :P

**Animephantom; ** Hmm… what would Tezuka do? Thanks for reading!

***After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin*After Losing Karupin***

Ryoma searched all over his house for those cat toys, but never found them. Eventually, he just gave up looking, and just continued on without the comfort of his cat's toys. Enjoying the small comfort he got from his Ponta and his gift from Fuji.

Hearing a knock on the door, Ryoma sighed and reluctantly got up and opened the door seeing who it was.

"Konichiwa, Buchou." Greeted Kaidoh, dressed in workout clothing and had his tennis racquet slung over his shoulder. "Would you like to come and train with me? I have something I want to try…"

"Ah. Sure." Ryoma replied. "Just let me go and get my things." He turned around and headed up to his room, quickly changing into some workout clothes and grabbing his signature Yonex racquet, he headed downstairs and left with Kaidoh down to the river side where he always practiced..

Once down there, they both began to warm up, doing some jogging and things like that. Then they began to rally the balls back and forth, and soon they began to put some effort into their shots, making the game get more and more interesting. Eventually both of them were going full out, pulling out their best moves.

"5-3, me." Ryoma said with a smirk. He knew that Kaidoh was a formidable opponent, but not quite up to his standard.

Being Kaidoh's serve, he threw the ball up, and served it. But being the Viper he is, the ball hit just beyond the service line, and flew back. Just like a snake shot.

Ryoma smirked. "So that is what you wanted to try out…" Ryoma said, mainly to himself. "Impressive. 15-love."

Kaidoh bounced the ball again, hitting the Snake Serve, but Ryoma being the Prince of Tennis, figured out how to return it. So running up to the service line, he hit the ball. Only instead of hitting it to Kaidoh's side of the court, it flew up to the overpass going across the river, hitting an innocent person…

"AH! MY HEAD!" The voice pierced across the river, being heard by Kaidoh and Ryoma. "WHY DID A TENNIS BALL HIT M-" The voice was cut off by a loud SPLASH! Caused by the man shouted.

Ryoma looked in a state of shock for a moment the smirked. "Baka Oyaji.." He said to himself. Shaking his head at his father who fell into the mountain.

***AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin*AfterLosingKarupin***

Game, Set, Match, Echizen-buchou. 6-3." Kaidoh panted out.

Ryoma smirked. "Mada Mada Dane Kaidoh-sempai." He said, tapping his racquet against his shoulder.

The match had got his mind off of losing his cat, and he seems to be keeping his mind off of Karupin a lot lately. Thanks to his sempais.

And of course, Kaidoh did the most obvious thing to help him, tennis. He silently thanked Kaidoh, and headed back to his house, drinking a grape ponta as he did so.

**To be continued!!**

**Read and review! Hope you enjoyed!**

~Mizuki-sempai


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis…

**Warning:** DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT LIKE YOAI!!! I will be writing a clean chapter for non-yoai lovers. This chapter contains mature content, and if you do read this chapter please comment and tell me how I did on that scene, if it was really bad I won't write anything like it again.

**animeangel088:** Hehheh...sorry didnt even think about it...it would have been amusing I'm sure.

**FallenAngel Sayu:** 0.o You're right! hehheh...

**fanfic addict anonymous XP:** I wouldn't advise reading this chapter, but to read the next one. The tennis team thought of it...they just weren't good enough...hehheh... Its is fun to torture him...but I didn't do that this chapter... :(...yay! I'm glad you like it so much that you were inspired....we read it and it's very good.

**Khelc-sul Renai:** Hehheh...you're right...it should have said NOT so innocent person... :)... Yes it includes the catus...It was right inside the guest room door where Nanjiroh couldn't see it when he walked in and ended up hurting himself. (0.o I finally revealed it!)

**momo-seiichi:** It does serve him right! hehheh...

**badluck-ngprod:** Glad you like it!

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay I was busy studying for my Finals and I kept getting embarrassed while writing (lame, I know…), but this is the first time I've written lemon (I'm pretty sure that's the term I'm looking for). This is the Final chapter of After Losing Karupin (besides the clean chapter that I am going to write). It's the longest chapter I've written so far. When I wrote it on paper it came out to eleven pages (though I have pretty big handwriting…). It's kind of shocking to see that we're actually finishing a story. It took us a while to get past the first chapter, but I'm glad we did. Lex started writing this story due to requests for a sequel to Karupin and the Saddened Ryoma. She wrote the first chapter and didn't continue, so I wrote the next chapter and we went from there. Thank you all very much for reading this story, and I hope you'll read our next story called A life of Emptiness. **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON OUR PROFILE!! **Please Enjoy!

-Sarah

**Chap.11**

Ryoma had cheered up considerably over the past few weeks, but there was still a small feeling of emptiness in his heart. This feeling was a huge weight on him in the beginning. He was lonely and hurt, but his senpai-tachi had helped him through that. Currently Ryoma was searching for a way to fill that last bit of emptiness in his heart.

His mind kept wondering to a certain ex-buchou as he walked around town. Ryoma, of course knew that he had feelings for the older boy seeing as they were dating. Though those feelings had grown stronger since Karupin's death. At first they hadn't seen each other very often, but that had changed. Now they saw each other at least three times a week, and every Saturday on the weekends.

Ryoma didn't know where his feet were taking him as he walked. He was lost in thought. He soon found himself standing in front of a place that had become very familiar to him over the past few weeks. He continued to stare at the house in front of him, not knowing what to do. He wasn't quite sure what had driven him to walking all the way here. Some part of him was hoping that his object of desire would walk out and see him, while another part was wanting to disappear from fear of that same objects parents. So he just continued to stand there, contemplating whether or not he should leave.

Ryoma sighed and crouched down, leaning his back against the houses gate. He rested his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands. His feelings were becoming to strong for him to ignore any longer. His body began to desire Tezuka's touch, to an extent that it was almost painful. This confused Ryoma, as he had never felt this way before. Ryoma sighed as he got up and began to walk away.

"Ryoma?" A familiar voice called. Ryoma nearly jumped out of his skin, and butterflies began to stir in his stomach. "What are you doing here?"

Ryoma's body visibly stiffened as he tried to think of what to say. His body felt that now familiar ache as he strongly desired to close between Tezuka and himself. Slowly he turned back around to look into the face of the being that held his heart captive. Instantly Ryoma could feel his heart quicken and his breat coming up short. He fought to control himself and was slowly losing.

"Nothing…just taking a walk." Ryoma somehow managed to say, and was proud of how steady his voice had been.

"Ah…" Tezuka almost sounded disappointed, which made Ryoma even more uneasy as he tried to hold himself back from tackling the older boy. "Why don't you come in? Since you're already here anyway…"

Ryoma nodded stiffly, and this didn't go unnoticed by Tezuka. Tezuka had noticed that something had been bothering Ryoma lately, but he couldn't figure out what. Whatever was bothering his young boyfriend, he would figure it out and fix it. But how was he supposed to go about that, huh? As they walked into the house Tezuka noticed Ryoma glancing around. It was almost as if he thought someone was going to jump out and yell at him. Then realization dawned on him. Ryoma had always been a little frightened of Tezuka's family.

"My parents are out of town for some time together this week." Tezuka explained to Ryoma, expecting him to relax a little. Though it seemed to have the opposite effect. Ryoma's body seemed to become even more stiff, if that was possible. Now Tezuka was getting really confused. If it wasn't his parents that Ryoma was bothered by, what was it?

Honestly, Ryoma had been hoping that Tezuka's parents were home. That way there wasn't the possibility of Ryoma's urges taking over. Things just weren't going well today. Suddenly Ryoma found himself staring up into a pair of hazel eyes, a hand on either side of his face. Ryoma felt entranced by those beautiful eyes, though he didn't realize that his had the same effect on Tezuka. They were trapped in each others eyes. (A/N: Sorry for my lameness there…)

Tezuka leaned forward taking the initiative, as he always had since that first kiss. He wanted to go at Ryoma's pace in this relationship. Tezuka didn't think he could handle losing Ryoma, so he didn't want to move to fast and endanger their relationship. That's why he hadn't initiated the first kiss.

When they finally pulled apart Ryoma's face was flushed, a light red had spread across his cheeks. Ryoma stared at Tezuka with a new look. Something about this look sent a chill down Tezuka's spine. Tezuka leaned forward, once again capturing Ryoma's lips. Tezuka moved his hands from Ryoma's face and wrapped them around his waist. Ryoma reached up and wrapped his arms around Tezuka's neck, bringing them even closer together.

Tezuka knew that he should pull back before he completely lost his self-control. Then Ryoma tried to pull his body even closer to Tezuka. When something hard poked into Tezuka's leg he knew he wouldn't have to stop, but he also knew he wouldn't be able to. It was then that Tezuka actually realized what had been bother Ryoma. Tezuka pulled away causing Ryoma to give a small whimpering sound before silencing himself. That sound caused Tezuka to feel as if his pants were to tight. Tezuka grabbed Ryoma's hand and dragged him to his room. Once they were in the room Ryoma was pushed down onto the bed.

Tezuka straddled over Ryoma, His hand on the bed, on either side of Ryoma's head. Ryoma reached up and wrapped his arms around Tezuka's neck once again, bringing him into another kiss. Ryoma could feel his body tightening once again, as Tezuka's body rubbed against his. Ryoma moaned into the kiss as he felt Tezuka's erection rub against his own. He then let out a whimper as Tezuka pulled away from the kiss, and stood up to pull off his clothes. Ryoma stood too, following suit, and pulled off his clothes. Ryoma tried to keep himself from staring, but was unsuccessful. Likewise, Tezuka was marveling at Ryoma's slim body.

Tezuka walked forward and gently pushed Ryoma back down onto the bed. Ryoma didn't resist, and fell back easily. Ryoma gasped when he felt a hand on his cock. Tezuka tongue then flicked across the tip, causing a loud moan to escape Ryoma's lips. Tezuka closed his mouth around Ryoma's cock, causing an even louder moan to escape. Tezuka grew more aroused with every sound his young lover made. Ryoma let out a scream when Tezuka began to suck and move his head back and forth. Tezuka placed his hands on Ryoma's hip to keep him from bucking.

Tezuka could tell that neither of them were going to last much longer. So he pulled back and quickly prepped Ryoma using a bottle of lotion as lube. At first he stuck in one finger after coating it in lotion, the two, he then scissored the two fingers. When he thought Ryoma had loosened up a bit he pulled his fingers out, noticing how Ryoma didn't seem to be in pain.

He quickly placed himself between Ryoma's hips and pulled Ryoma's feet over his shoulders. He placed the tip of his cock at the entrance to Ryoma's ass with one hand, and spread the cheeks with the other. He slowly maneuvered his way in, stopping whenever saw Ryoma grimace. Finally, he was all the way in. He slowly pulled out and thrust forward again, a little faster this time.

He did this a few more times, each one faster than the last, until Ryoma let out a sudden scream. Tezuka thought he had hurt the boy, but then he noticed the look of pure pleasure on Ryoma's face and realized he must have hit his prostate. Tezuka maneuvered to hit the same place again and was rewarded when Ryoma let out another piercing scream filled with pleasure. Tezuka noticed that Ryoma was coming close to his climax, as was Tezuka, and reached down to stroke his lovers' cock. Ryoma soon came hard on Tezukas' chest. Tezuka thrust in a few more times as Ryoma tightened from his climax. The tightness combined with Ryoma's soft moans caused Tezuka to reach his climax as well, and he came inside of Ryoma.

Tezuka lay slumped over Ryoma. Both of them were panting and covered in a slight sheen of sweat. Tezuka reached out to gently caress Ryoma's cheek before pulling out of Ryoma. Ryoma gave a small, but submissive whimper. Tezuka then left the room to get a wet rag to clean the both of them up. When Tezuka came back Ryoma was sound asleep on the bed, looking peaceful. Tezuka cleaned him up and then went to take a shower.

Tezuka quickly prepared the shower and got in, not having been dressed already. He then felt a pair of slim arms wrap around his waist. He slowly glanced back, and saw that look in Ryoma's eyes once again. That was when he figured out that his lover was very quick to recover. Ryoma now felt complete, that once empty place in his heart was now full once again.

THE END

**Read and review! Please tell me how I did with THAT scene… Hope you enjoyed! We hope that you will read our next story ****A Life of Emptiness****! Please don't forget to vote on the poll on our profile! I will try to post the clean chapter sometime next week or maybe even this week for those who want to read it. Thanks for sticking with us until the end! Also I'm sorry for all the …'s that I do. I just can't help it…**

~Mizuki-sempai


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis…

**A/N:** I'm sorry for such a long delay. I had to do my 4H projects and judging and the my computer broke and school started. This is the clean chapter I mentioned I was going to write at the beginning of the last chapter. It's definitely the longest chapter I've written, so I hope that makes up a little bit for how long you've waited. I hope you enjoy. ALSO PLEASE VOTE ON THE POLL ON OUR PROFILE IF YOU HAVENT ALREADY DONE SO…

**Chap.12-**

As Ryoma stood up from slipping on his shoes he heard light footsteps behind him.

"Where are you going Ryoma-kun?" It was Nanako, she had just finished washing the dishes from that mornings breakfast as well as sweeping the kitchen floor.

"I'm just going out for a bit. I'll be back before dark." Ryoma said as he slipped out the door. Ryoma felt the need to get out of that house. The house he had spent so much time in with Karupin. What he needed now was to think. After all this time he hadn't thought about much. He hadn't know what to think, but things had changed. He had to think, not just for his sake but for the sake of the friends that tried so hard to help him through this.

Time passed without Ryoma noticing. If it wasn't for all his tennis training his feet would have been aching by now. Ryoma looked around and found that he had walked into some kind of forest or woods. He looked for some kind of familiar landmark, but found none.

Ryoma turned and began walking in the direction he believed he came from (which by the way you should never do…haha). Ryoma continued to walk for what seemed like hours, but didn't see any way out. He reached into his pocket to get his cell phone, but found his pocket empty.

'_Great I must have dropped it' _Ryoma thought to himself.

The sun began to set and Ryoma was quickly losing light. The darkness seemed to surround him, envelope him. Suddenly Ryoma just stopped, his mind felt empty and his body numb.

**-****Location:**** Echizen Household ****Time:**** 8:00pm: 9 hours after Ryoma left-**

Tezuka had arrived just moments ago, after getting a phone call his boyfriends frantic mother. She had asked if he had seen Ryoma. After hearing that they hadn't heard from Ryoma for around 9 hours Tezuka too began to worry. So, after getting off the phone with Rinko he headed straight for the Echizen household.

"Where could he be?! He isn't answering his cell phone!" Rinko's voice was filled with panic and worry. "Are you sure he didn't say where he was going?!"

"Yes." Nanako said through a calm exterior.

"Rinko calm down… the boy is old enough to take care of himself" Nanjiroh said wrapping his arms around his wife. He tried to quell his wife's fears as well as his own. Tezuka couldn't handle this much longer. They were all just sitting here while Ryoma could possibly be in danger. It was impossible for Tezuka to be rational when it came to Ryoma. Tezuka quickly stood up, hastily threw on his shoes, and left to look for Ryoma. He had no idea where to begin, but he would find Ryoma if it was the last thing he did.

**-****Location:**** Unknown ****Time:**** 8:15pm-**

Ryoma had started walking again after a few minutes of thinking. He realized how selfish he was being. He had taken no consideration of the people around him. He knew they were trying to help him, and he took advantage of that.

Ryoma began to run, in a hurry to get out of this place. He wanted to apologize and thank everyone. Ryoma ran and ran, but still didn't seem to make it anywhere. Suddenly all Ryoma knew was that he was falling, then he felt a sharp pain, and finally the darkness completely consumed him.

-**Location:**** Near an abandoned greenhouse ****Time:**** 9:00pm; 10 hours since Ryoma left-**

"RYOMA!"Tezuka shouted. It had been about fifty minutes since he had started searching. He had already checked all the places Ryoma would normally be, but found no traces of Ryoma. After not finding Ryoma at any of his normal places Tezuka chose a random direction and started searching once again. That had been almost twenty minutes ago.

Tezuka looked around the abandoned greenhouse, noticing broken windows and dirt covered tables. Vines had wrapped around most of the support beams and metal bars. There were pieces of broken pots scattered on the floor. Tezuka had to watch where he was, that way he wouldn't step on something and injure himself.

Tezuka took out his phone and dialed Ryoma's cell phone number. He did this every so often, hoping Ryoma would answer. Tezuka continued to walk through the broken down greenhouse as the phone rang in his ear.

Tezuka thought he heard music to his left and began to walk towards it. As he continued to walk towards the music he became certain that he had heard it, seeing as the music grew louder. Once he found the source of the music he felt a wave of relief and worry all at once.

The music had come from a phone, which Tezuka recognized as Ryoma's.

Tezuka quickly grabbed the phone from the ground and ran into the forest that surrounded the old greenhouse. He shouted Ryoma's name over and over, hoping that Ryoma would hear him.

**-****Location:**** On a Riverbank ****Time:**** 9:17pm-**

Ryoma felt a dull ache in the back of his head. He slowly opened his eyes to pure darkness. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the night. Once he could finally see, Ryoma noticed he had fallen quite far. It seemed to be at least 12 feet. Pain radiated throughout Ryoma's body whenever he made even the slightest move. Something about this situation triggered a memory in Ryoma's head, of the first time he had ever gotten lost.

_Flashback_

_A sob echoed through the forest as a six year old Ryoma sat crying under the shade of a towering tree. He had wandered too far into the forest near his house and gotten lost._

_When he tried to find his way back he had just gotten even more lost. He had finally given up and just under a nearby tree._

_Ryoma's sobs continued to echo as the sky grew darker. Ryoma let out a startled cry when something cold and wet rub against his hand, which hand been gripping his arm that was wrapped around his knees with his head barried in his lap. He looked up to see a small kitten staring at him._

_"Kaupin!!" Ryoma lept towards the cat and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Karupin meowed and lept out of his arms. Karupin began to walk away and Ryoma hastily followed, not wanting to be alone._

_"Ryoma!!"Ryoma heard the sound of his mother's before seeing her. She had ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Are you okay, baby?"_

_"Yes..." Ryoma wiggled his way out of his mother's grasp and went after Karupin. When he reached the cat he picked him up. Ryoma then walked into the house leaving his confused parents outside._

_End Flashback_

Ryoma chuckled at the memory as he remembered his parents utterly confused faces, but he immediately regretted it as sharp pains were sent through his body.

"Ryoma!!" A familiar voice echoed through the forest.

Ryoma's eyes widened at the sound of that oh so familiar voice. He attempted to sit up and yell back to Tezuka, but an unbearable pain shot through his head and all that came out was a pained whimper. Ryoma's hand shot up to his head to try and dull the pain, he felt something warm and wet...it was blood.

"Ryoma?" Tezuka must have heard Ryoma's pained whimper. Tezuka climbed down to the wide river bank to search for whatever had made that sound. What he saw though was not a very pleasant sight. Ryoma was laying amongst the rocks that lined the riverbank. He wasn't moving (from what Tezuka could see anyway). Tezuka ran to the ever still Ryoma.

"Ryoma? Are you alright?" Tezuka asked upon seeing the teens eyes open. Ryoma slowly nodded and immediately a grimace overcame his features. "Whats wrong Ryoma?" Panic seeped into the older boys voice.

Tezuka picked Ryoma up bridal style and carried him closer to the water. Tezuka noticed how hot Ryoma's body was (no, not like that), he had a fever. Tezuka felt as if something wet was soaking the sleeve of his shirt. Once he set Ryoma back he looked at his arm and saw it was covered in blood.

Tezuka quickly turned back to Ryoma and searched for the wound. It was on the back of his head. Ryoma had hit his head on something sharp when he had fallen. Ryoma's breath was becoming ragged and his fever was increasing rapidly.

Tezuka tore the sleeve that wasn't bloody from his shirt and soaked it in the cool water of the river, before ringing it out and placing it on Ryoma's forehead. He tore the other sleeve off and used it as a bandage to try and make the bleeding stop.

After Ryoma was set Tezuka picked him up bridal style once again careful to avoid hurting his head even more and trying not to drop the make do ice pack.

Tezuka made his way back through the forest and past the abandoned greenhouse. When he finally reached the Echizen household he rushed Rinko, Nanjiroh, and Nanako into the car and they drove to a nearby hospital.

**-****Location:**** Scarlet Hospital ****Time:**** 1:00pm the Next day-**

"Ryoma-kun will be fine. He just needs a little rest. He's lucky you found him when you did. If it had been much later we may not have been ablwe to do anything for him." Doctor Yoshizawa informed the Echizen family and Tezuka. They all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Can we see him?" Rinko asked hopefully.

"Yes, you may see him now. He's in room 52A." Doctor Yoshizawa said with a bow and walked away.

Ryoma had already awoken when everyone made it into the room. Rinko fawned over him, fluffing his pillows, straightening out his sheets, making sure he was comfortable. He soon fell back to sleep. Rinko, Nanjiroh, and Nanako left soon after that, full of relief that Ryoma was okay.

**3 Hours Later**

"Mmmm..." Ryoma grumbled as he woke from his slumber.

Tezuka jumped at the sound and rushed over to his bedside and asked if he needed anything. When Ryoma answered in the negative a calm silence came over them. Tezuka sat back down keeping an eye on Ryoma.

"What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be home by now?" Ryoma asked curiously.

"Hn." was the only answer Ryoma recieved. Ryoma chuckled and soon fell back to sleep. Tezuka stood up and walked back over to Ryoma's bedside. He leaned down and kissed Ryoma's forehead. "I love you..."

Tezuka walked out the door after that, but before he left he could have sworn that he heard a cat meow...but then he thought that was ridiculous, because cats aren't allowed in hospitals...

**THE END!!!**

**Thank you everyone who read this fanfiction. Once again I'm sorry for such a long wait and I hope you'll all forgive me. I was typing it up last week, but then my sister got sick and we still don't know what's wrong with her. So again I am sorry. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!!!**

**P.S. If you read the previous chapter and didn't like how it ended please tell me in a review and I will try to add another chapter with a better ending. Thanks again and please vote in the poll on our profile.**


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